Data centre overview

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Last modified 02 Feb 2016, 12:46 PM

The Biodiversity data centre (BDC) provides access to data and information on species, habitat types and sites of interest in Europe and to related products for biodiversity indicators and assessments. Priority is given to policy-relevant data and information for European and national institutions, professionals, researchers and the public.

Progress towards the 2020 target of improving the conservation status of habitats covered by the EU Habitats Directive has not been substantial since 2010. This indicates that significant conservation efforts need to be implemented to revert current trends.
At the EU level, only 16 % of the assessments of habitats protected under the Habitats Directive have a favourable conservation status.
Bogs, mires and fens have the highest proportion of unfavourable assessments, followed closely by grasslands.
Conservation status trends are quite variable across biogeographic regions, however, more habitats are stable than decreasing in the terrestrial regions. There are still significant gaps in knowledge on marine habitat types.
At the EU Member State level, the majority of assessments indicate a low number of habitats with a favourable conservation status.

The 2020 target of improving the conservation status of species covered by the Habitats Directive seems to have been met. This apparent progress, however, is largely attributable to improved data and changes in methodology.
Similarly, there has been little progress towards the target for bird populations under the Birds Directive. This indicates that significant conservation efforts need to be implemented to revert current trends.
At the EU level, 23 % of the assessments of species protected under the Habitats Directive indicate a favourable conservation status. At the same time, 60 % of species assessments are unfavourable. There are still significant gaps in knowledge, especially for marine species.
Fish, molluscs and amphibians have a particularly high proportion of species that exhibit a deteriorating trend.
The conservation status of species varies considerably from one biogeographic region to another. At Member State level, more unfavourable assessments are showing a decline than those that are improving.
In the EU, over half of the bird species listed in the Birds Directive are considered to be ‘secure’, i.e. they show no foreseeable risk of extinction, decline or depletion. On the other hand, 17 % of the species listed are still threatened and another 15 % are declining or depleted.

Natura 2000 is the key instrument to protect biodiversity in the European Union. It is an ecological network of protected areas, set up to ensure the survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. Natura 2000 is based on the 1979 Birds Directive and the 1992 Habitats Directive. This version covers the reporting in 2015.

The table shows the areal extent of Europe's seas and selected characteristics of EU marine protected areas (MPAs), namely area coverage, percentage of coverage and total number of sites.
Data excludes the Icelandic Sea, Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea

The map shows an overview of protected sites in Europe, including Natura 2000 sites and nationally designated areas (CDDA). Natura 2000 is the key instrument to protect biodiversity in the European Union. It is an ecological network of protected areas, set up to ensure the survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. Nationally designated areas is a European inventory of protected areas designated by the national authorities.

Natura 2000 is the key instrument to protect biodiversity in the European Union. It is an ecological network of protected areas, set up to ensure the survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. Natura 2000 is based on the 1979 Birds Directive and the 1992 Habitats Directive. This version covers the reporting in 2015.

Europe 2016 - The biogeographical regions dataset contains the official delineations used in the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and for the EMERALD Network set up under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention).
Changes in this version:
The Pannonian region of Serbia was missing in previous versions and this has been corrected in the 2016 version. Some Arctic islands which do not belong to the European part of Russia and which were erroneously included in previous versions have been removed.

The dataset combines the Corine based MAES ecosystem classes with the non-spatial EUNIS habitat classification for a better biological characterization of ecosystems across Europe. As such it represents probabilities of EUNIS habitat presence for each MAES ecosystem type.

The map shows an overview of protected sites in Europe, including Natura 2000 sites and nationally designated areas (CDDA). Natura 2000 is the key instrument to protect biodiversity in the European Union. It is an ecological network of protected areas, set up to ensure the survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. Nationally designated areas is a European inventory of protected areas designated by the national authorities.

Progress towards the 2020 target of improving the conservation status of habitats covered by the EU Habitats Directive has not been substantial since 2010. This indicates that significant conservation efforts need to be implemented to revert current trends.
At the EU level, only 16 % of the assessments of habitats protected under the Habitats Directive have a favourable conservation status.
Bogs, mires and fens have the highest proportion of unfavourable assessments, followed closely by grasslands.
Conservation status trends are quite variable across biogeographic regions, however, more habitats are stable than decreasing in the terrestrial regions. There are still significant gaps in knowledge on marine habitat types.
At the EU Member State level, the majority of assessments indicate a low number of habitats with a favourable conservation status.

The 2020 target of improving the conservation status of species covered by the Habitats Directive seems to have been met. This apparent progress, however, is largely attributable to improved data and changes in methodology.
Similarly, there has been little progress towards the target for bird populations under the Birds Directive. This indicates that significant conservation efforts need to be implemented to revert current trends.
At the EU level, 23 % of the assessments of species protected under the Habitats Directive indicate a favourable conservation status. At the same time, 60 % of species assessments are unfavourable. There are still significant gaps in knowledge, especially for marine species.
Fish, molluscs and amphibians have a particularly high proportion of species that exhibit a deteriorating trend.
The conservation status of species varies considerably from one biogeographic region to another. At Member State level, more unfavourable assessments are showing a decline than those that are improving.
In the EU, over half of the bird species listed in the Birds Directive are considered to be ‘secure’, i.e. they show no foreseeable risk of extinction, decline or depletion. On the other hand, 17 % of the species listed are still threatened and another 15 % are declining or depleted.

The table shows the areal extent of Europe's seas and selected characteristics of EU marine protected areas (MPAs), namely area coverage, percentage of coverage and total number of sites.
Data excludes the Icelandic Sea, Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea